Science historian and presenter of the popular television series Connections, James Burke, shows how seemingly unrelated ideas and innovations bounce off one another, spinning a vast, interactive web on which everything is connected to everything else: Carmen leads to the theory of relativity, champagne bottling links to wallpaper design, Joan of Arc connects through vaudeville to Buffalo Bill. How would you relate say the term "vivisection" with Stonehenge? The idea may not be not as preposterous as it sounds.

It is easy getting lost in the web of knowledge. Burke attempts to make things easier still for the reader not to get lost. An archetypal encyclopaedia with its methodical and alphabetical can be a bit cumbersome and high-dosed to be considered for light reading. Burke does not fall into that proverbial trap. The circular narratives that he spun Connections into the popularity charts, is back in this book.

Burke derives his from the concept of links and hypertexts used in the Internet. When mentioning certain key figures or events, he includes a footnote that points the reader not to the bottom of the page or the end of the book, but to another point in the text where the figure or event comes into play again. As one surfs through the interconnections between disparate events and phenomena, the reader is left spellbound - and hooked for good.

Burke, in weaving this web through the history of knowledge and knowledge about history, makes intersections explicit. A person, idea, event or phenomenon that is repeated over and over again are the "gateways". Each such reference is indicated with the other instances where the same person, idea, event or phenomenon crops up again. With "twenty different journeys across the great web of change" and 142 such gateways, Burke offers readers "at least 142 different ways" to browse through.

The oldest breed of horse in the world, the Arabian's beginnings are anything but humble. Born, according to ancient Arab tales, of the south wind, coming from Hoshabeh, now Yemen: To create the Arab horse, God spoke to the south wind: "I will create from you a being which will be a happiness to the good and a misfortune to the bad. Happiness shall be on its forehead, bounty on its back and joy in the possessor." When it comes to talking about Arabian horses, such passion is not unusual, and it's a passion that author Peter Upton and editor Hossein Amirsadeghi, along with photographers Rik van Lent, Sr. and Jr., lovingly share in Arabians: The Classic Arabian Horse. Both a stunning photographic journey--composed of more than 250 full-colour photographs, arranged by geographical area--and a fascinating history lesson, Arabians begins with a thorough examination of the horse's origins, which date back to 1700 B.C. Such notable historical figures as the prophet Mohammed and the queen of Sheba were Arabian devotees. The breed's popularity spread outside of the Arab world beginning in the last half of the 17th century, peaking in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Other areas of discussion include the distinct features and characteristics of the breed (its exquisite head and high tail carriage as well as its "vigour, courage and great powers of endurance") and the numerous strains and substrains of the breed, which, when combined with a glossary of Arabic terms and a complete listing of Arabian horse organisations, registries, and societies, truly make Arabians the "definitive book on this revered breed." © Amazon.com